David Vanian

David Vanian
Background information
Birth name	David Letts
Born	12 October 1956 (1956-10-12) (age 53)
Origin	Hemel Hempstead, England
Genres	Punk rock, gothic rock
Occupations	Gravedigger, Singer-songwriter, Musician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1976 - Current
Labels	Nitro Records
Associated acts	The Damned David Vanian & the Phantom Chords
Website	officialdamned.com

David Vanian (born David Letts on 12 October 1956 in Hemel Hempstead, England) is a rock musician famous for being the lead singer of the punk rock band The Damned. The band formed in 1976 in London and Vanian is the only ever-present member of the group. They are notable for being the first of the British punk bands to release a single, album and also tour the United States.

Career

David Vanian of The Damned after the band's concert at The Fillmore in San Francisco - March 1986.

Letts changed his name to Dave Vanian when he became a musician, having previously worked as a gravedigger. It is rumoured that when Captain Sensible asked whether Vanian could sing, Vanian responded "yes" but had never sung a note in his life.

He is famous for bringing the gothic image to pop culture world, due to his wearing its apparel both on-stage and off, although he does not personally make note of this. Indeed, his initial look was based on movie vampires: hence the stage name Vanian, which is supposed to suggest "Transylvanian". Notorious also for keeping his personal life out of the limelight, even opting out of any input towards The Damned bio-book The Light At The End Of The Tunnel by Carol Clerk, he also leads the rockabilly band David Vanian & the Phantom Chords. He is known to be interested in renaissance art, film noir and horror movies, which he speaks of as well as sings.

He married Laurie Vanian in 1976, the same year he joined The Damned, only to break up in the mid-nineties. Not long after their split, he married former Sisters of Mercy bassist Patricia Morrison and lives in Harrow, north-west London. On 2004 Morrison gave birth to Emily Vanian. Currently, Vanian hosts Dave Vanian's Dark Screen on the UK-based goth television channel Rockworld TV, where viewers get to send in their own self-made horror films in the hope of winning prizes.

In 2004, he and Captain Sensible turned on the Christmas lights in Cambridge, causing some controversy.^[1]

In 2009, he composed the entire soundtrack for the movie "The Perfect Sleep".^[2]

He is five feet and six inches tall.

External links

• The Damned (official site): Dave Vanian section
• Interview (while touring with the Phantom Chords), November 1993 (QuickTime Video)

References